Station-indicator



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(No Model.) 2 sheetssheet 2.

G. S. WEAVER. STATION INDICATOR.

Patented Sept. 14, 1897. Y

|`\ ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

GEORGE S. WEAVER, OF ALBANY, NEXV YORK.

sTATloN-INDicAToa SPECIFICATION forming part of Lehrers Patent No.590,176, dated september 14, 1897.

Application filed December 28, 1893. Renewed Octolgel 15, 1895. SerialNo. 565,809.

T0 CLZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. WEAVER, of Albany,

My invention relates to an improvement in station-indicators; and it hasfor its object to provide an indicator which will be exceed-` inglysimple in its construction and by means of which the stations along theline of a given road may beindicated as they are approached or at anydesired time before they are approached and whereby also when used inconnection with a street-car the names of the various streets may beindicated just prior tothe arrival of the carat the said streets or whena street is reached.

A further object of the invention is to provide a station-indicatorwhich will be under the complete control of the conductor, brakeinan, ordriver of the car and which when operated to move the belt containingthe names of the stations will automatically act to prevent the beltfrom movingback in the direction of the support from which it was drawn.

The invention consists in the novel con'- struction and combination ofthe several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set. forth, and pointedout in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar iigu res and letters of refer# enceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved station-indicator, aportion of the casing being broken away;` Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionthrough the casing, taken practically on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a partial rear elevation of the indicator. Fig. il. is a sectiontaken practically on the line et 4 of- Fig. 3, illustrating' the partsat rest or in their nor` mal position. Fig. 5 is a section similar toFig. 4, in lwhichv the parts are shown in the position they occupy whenabout to operate to move the station belt or apron; and Fig. G is adetail view of one of the draw-bars, illustrating the manner in whichthe dog itcarries is connected therewith.

Theform of indicator illustrated is adapted in the county of Albany andStatey of New York, have invented a new and Improved Station-Indicator,of which the -fol-y lowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

(No model.)

to be secured in an upright position at, for example, the ends of a caror like vehicle. The loack of the casing iSordinarily open, but may beclosed, if desired, and the said lcasing is provided at top and bottomof its rear portion with lugs 1,0, whereby it may be secured to asupport. The ends of the casing are ordinarily madestraiglit and theentire casing is made square, but the front is made more or lesscylindrical. Preferably, as shown in the drawings, the front of thecasing is provided with two surfaces 11 and 12, located one at thebottom and the other 'at the top, the said surfaces extending from endto end of the casing, while between the 'cylindrical surfacesa flatsurface 13 is produced, Ain which an opening 1e is made, said openingbeing normally of a length corre sponding to the length of the casing.

Within the casing beneath eachiof its cylindrical surfaces a roller isjournaled in the ends of the casing, the upper roller being designatedasl and the lower one as 16. Each roller at'one of its ends is providedwith a gear securely fastened to it, the gear of the upper roller bei ngdesignated as 17, while that of the vlower roller is designated as 1S,and the upper gear 17 has attached to its outer face a ratchet-wheel 19,while the lower gear is provided with a like ratchet-wheel 20, the teethof the two ratchet-wheels facing in opposite directions. rPhe gears ofthe two roll- 'ers are connected through the medium of a pinion 21, andthe said pinion may be and preferably is located upon a stud 22,attached to Vone end ofthe casing, as `illustrated in Fig. 1.'

At the end of the casing near which the gearedends of therollers arelocated sliding or draw bars 23 and 24 are located.. The draw-bars areindependent one of the other and one of them extends upward through anopening 25 in the top of the casing, its lower end being attached to aspring 26, which is firmly attached to the bottom portion of the casing,while the other draw-bar extends outward through an opening in thebottom vportion in the casing and its upper end is se cured to thespring 27, secured to the casing itself at the top or to any convenientsupport. The draw-bar 23 carries a spring-pressed dog 23 and thedraw-bar 24: is provided with a wardly from it, and a boxing 29, locatedupon one side, as shown in detail in Eig. G. The studs 2S of thedraw-bars are adapted to have limited movement-in one direction by beingbrought in contact with a guide 30, located about centrall7 between thetop and bottom of the casing and through which the drawbars havemovement, like guides being provided for the draw-bars near the top andbottom portions of the casing, as shown best in Fig. 2. Thus when whatmay be termed the lower draw-bar 23 is drawn downward an d is releasedits upward movement will be limited by its stud 23 engaging with theguide 30 and when the upper draw-bar 24 is drawn upward and released itsstud 23 will limit the downward movement of said bar. Each draw-bar hasattached at its outer end a cord 3l, or the equivalent thereof, passedover one or more friction-rollers 32 to a point within convenient reachof the driver, conductor, brakeman, or whoever has charge of themachine.

The dogs 23 and 24 are of like construction, but face in oppositedirections. Each dog is more or less angular in its formation,comprising a foot a, having movement in the box 29 of the draw-bar withwhich it is connected, and an actuatingarm or body portion CL, adaptedfor engagement with the ratchetwheel to be operated, and the arm or body.ft is held in operative position by means of a spring 33, as shown inEig. 6, which spring normally holds the foot-section cl of the dogagainst the wall of the box facing in the direction in which thedraw-bar is to be moved. The dogs are pivoted upon the studs 28 andltheir pivot-pins are proj ected outward to form horizontal studs 34.

Vhemfor exam ple,the d raw-bar 23 is drawn downward, the dog 23a willengage with the lower ratehet-wheel 2O and turn that wheel, for example,the distance of one tooth, and when the said draw-bar 23 is released itwill be returned by its spring 27, the dog slippingv over the teeth ofthe ratoliet-wheel, and when the draw-bar assumes its normal position,which is shown in Eig. 4, the dog will be removed entirely out ofengagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

A belt or apron is wound upon one roller and is adapted to be unwoundtherefrom upon the other roller, and according to the direction in whichthe belt is to be moved one or the other of the draw-barsis'manipulated. By using two draw-bars the necessity of winding the beltor apron entirely from one roller to the other is avoided, since thebelt or apron may be moved upon the return trip in a direction thereverse of its movement upon the initial trip; but it will be understoodthat if in practice itis found desirable a single drawbar only need beemployed.

Then the two draw-bars are employed, it ofttimes happens when therollers have been manipulated to remove the name of one station from theopening 14 and present at the said opening the name of the next stationthat after the movement has been accomplished the belt or apron carryingthe names 'of the stations will sag more or less or move in thedirection from which the apron was drawn. To avoid such slipping of theapron, two pawls 3G and 37 are employed. These pawls are i'ulerumed uponsuitable pins or studs 3S, attached to one side of the casing, and eachpawl consists of a locking member b and av releasing member b, as isbest shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5. These members are located one at eachside of the pivot-point, the locking member of the pawl 3G being adaptedfor engagement with the ratchet-wheel 19 of the upper roller and thecorresponding member of the pawl 37 engages with the ratchetwheel 2O ofthe lower roller, while the releasing members of these pawls are carriedin reverse directions between the two rollers, and iny order that thereleasing member of one pawl shall not interfere with the correspondingmember of the other pawl the releasing member of the pawl 36, forexample, is so curved as to extend over and entirely out of the way ofthe corresponding member of the pawl 37. The extremity of the releasingmember' of the pawl 36, which engages with the ratchet-wheel of theupper roller7 is adapted to be tripped by the stud 34, carried by thelower draw-bar, while the stud on the upper draw-bar will operate uponthe releasing member of the pawl acting in connection with the lowerroller.

The locking members?) of both of the pawls are held in engagement withtheir respective ratchet-wheels through the medium of springs 30, which,as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, may be attached to studs 40, projected fromone side of the casing, Vthe longer ends of the springs having bearingupon proj eetions formed upon the releasing members of the pawls nearthe pivot-points thereof, while the opposite ends of the springs mayhave bearing upon the hub of the pinion 2l or a sleeve located on theshaft or pintle of that pinion.

The operation of the device will be best understood when the action ofone draw-bar is explained-the lower one, for exampleand therefore suchmovement has been illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 the parts areshown in their normal position. Both pawls are in engagement with theirratchet-wheels and the dogs are out of engagement with said wheels. Itbeing desired to change the name of the station at the easing-opening 14by drawing the station belt or apron from the upper roller upon thelower one, on drawing downward upon the draw-bar 23 the dog 23 ot' thatdraw-bar will be carried to an engage- IIO , will be free to turn adistance corresponding ment with the teeth of the lower ratchetwhecl andat the time that the ratchet-wheel 2O is moved by the dog 23L the stud34 upon the draw-bar 23 will have raised the releasing member Zi of theupper pawl 3G sufficiently to carry its locking member out of engagementwith the upper ratchet-wheel, thus permitting that ratchet-wheel to turnand likewise permitting the upper roller to revolve and the apron orbelt to be wound around the lower roller. Vhen the stud 34 releases thepawl 36 in its further action Vupon the lower ratchet-wheel, the pawl inengaging with the upper ratchet-wheel will strike it between two of itsteeth. Therefore the upper roller to the distance between two teeth ot'the upper ratchet-wheel, which will be the extent of the movement of thelower ratchet-wheel by the dog 231. lVhen the draw-bar 23 is released,it will again trip the upper dog 36, but the return of the bar will beso rapid, owing to the strength ot the spring 27, that the movement ofthe pawl will be really instantaneous, and therefore will not affect thetension upon the station belt or apron.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. In a station-indicator, the combination, withrollers and a belt or apron connecting the rollers and adapted to haveproduced thereon the names ot' stations or streets, of gears secured tothe rollers, a. transmitting-gear connecting with the rollers,ratchet-wheels attached to the rollers, spring-controlled drawbarshaving reverse movement, dogs carried bythe draw-bars and adapted forengagement one with each ratchet-wheel, the teeth of the ratchet-wheelsfacing in opposite directions, detents normally held in engagement witheach ratchet-wheel, said detents Vbeing provided with releasing-arms,and a trip conn ection, substantially as shown and described, betweenthe dogs acting upon one ratchetwheel and the detents operating uponvanopposing ratchet-wheel, substantially as and for the purpose specified.Y

2. In a station-indicator, the combination, with rollers and a belt orapron connected with the rollers and adapted to have produced thereonthe nam es of stations or streets, of gears secured to the rollers, atransmittinggear connecting the roller-gears, ratchet wheels securedupon the rollers, draw-bars located adjacent to the rollers, dogscarried by the bars and adapted for engagement with the ratchet-wheelsof the rollers, pawls engaging with the ratchet-wheels, and a tripconnection, substantially as shown and described, between the dogs andthe pawls, for disengaging the pawl from one ratchet-wheel when the dogoperates upon the opposing ratchet-wheel, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In a station-indicator, the combination, with rollers geared togetherand a belt or apron attached to both rollers and adapted to be rolledupon either, the said belt or apron having produced thereon informationof a predetermined character, of a ratchet-wheel attached one to eachroller, spring-controlled draw-bars located adjacent to theratchetwheels and adapted to have movement in opposite directions, aspring-controlled dog carried by each draw-bar, one dog being adaptedfor engagement with each of the ratchetwheels, spring-controlled pawlsnormally in engagement one with each ratchet-wheel, and means forreleasing the-pawl from one ratchetwheel when the opposite ratchet-wheelis operated upon by its dog, as and for the purpose set forth.

'4. In a station-indicator, the combination with rollers gearedtogether, and a displayapron connected with the rollers, of aratchetwheel on the end of each roller, a spring-controlled draw baradjacent to the ratchetwheels, a spring-pressed dog carried by thedraw-bar and adapted to engage one of the ratchet-wheels, aspring-pressed detent normally held in engagement with the otherratchet-wheel, and means for disengaging the detent from itsratchet-wheel when the dog operates upon its ratchet-wheel,substantially as described.

5. In a station-indicator, the combination with two rollers gearedtogether, and a display apron or belt connected with the rollers, of aratchet-wheel on the end of each roller, a spring-controlled draw-baradjacent the loo' ratchet-wheels, a spring-pressed dog carried by thedraw-bar and adapted to engage one of the ratchet-wheels, aspring-presseddetent normally held in engagement with the otherratchet-wheel, and provided with a `releasingarm, and a stud on thedraw-bar for engaging the releasing-arm of the detentto disengage thesaid detent from its ratchet-wheel at the time the dog engages itsratchet-wheel, substantially as described. A

GEORGE S. WEAVER. Witnesses J F. ACKER, C. SEDGWICK.

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